Conversion of wind energy into a useful form of power has a long and storied history. For example, windmills were known and used by the Greeks at least by the first century AD; and windpumps or other wind-powered irrigation technologies were known hundreds of years earlier. Although still in use today to some degree, windmills, windpumps, and other wind-powered machinery have dramatically decreased in importance since the rise of fossil fuels. However, with increasing pollution, potential climate-change, and growing scarcity of these fuels, there has been a surge of interest in generating clean, renewable power from the wind.
Conventional wind turbines have been used to make electricity for more than a century. At the turn of the twentieth century, wind turbines were growing in popularity and their usefulness was recognized across the world. Today, commercial wind turbines can be found nearly anywhere the wind blows, from farms, to ranches, deserts and even open ocean.
However, conventional wind turbines have a number of problems and limitations. One of the most significant issues is that the wind often does not blow strongly enough throughout the day, nor can it be relied upon to blow adequately in a given location over a longer time span. Some locales have long histories of higher-than-average winds and, as such, are often targeted as potential sites for wind turbines. Nevertheless, even such high-grade wind sites have periods (sometimes days at a stretch) when the winds are light. Conventional turbines often require wind speeds of five, eight, or even ten miles-per-hour or higher before they start generating significant amounts of electricity. Furthermore, when the wind speed is too high, conventional wind turbines have to be adjusted so that the wind's effect on the blades is lessened or the blades may be deflected back into the support tower or otherwise become damaged. An additional problem with convention wind turbine systems is that they must employ an additional efficiency robbing system that senses wind direction and then actuates a servo motor to turn the turbine into the wind. When the winds constantly change direction, such systems do not respond quickly enough and lose efficiency.
What is needed is an advanced wind turbine apparatus that activates at lower-speed winds and can produce significant amounts of electricity at wind speeds below those required for conventional wind turbines. Furthermore, an advanced wind turbine apparatus should also weather high-speed wind situations without damaging its support tower or blades and should automatically align itself in the direction from which the wind is blowing without utilizing inefficient sensors and servo motors.